HCUP Methods Series
Contact Information: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov For Technical Assistance with HCUP Products: Email: hcup@ahrq.gov or Phone: 1-866-290-HCUP Recommended Citation: Barrett M, Steiner C. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) External Cause of Injury Code (E Code) Evaluation Report (Updated with 2011 HCUP Data). 2014. HCUP Methods Series Report # 2014-01 ONLINE. March 14, 2014. U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/methods/methods.jsp.
Table of Contents Introduction... 1 Methods... 2 Results... 4 Table 1. Percentage of Inpatient Injury Discharges with an Injury E Code... 4 Table 2. Number of Inpatient Injury Discharges in the United States Reported with Nonspecific E Codes... 5 Table 3. Percentage of ED Visits for Injury with an Injury E Code... 6 Table 4. Number of ED Visits for Injury in the United States Reported with Nonspecific E Codes... 7 Appendix 1. HCUP Partners... 8
INTRODUCTION This study evaluates the reporting of external cause of injury codes (E codes) on injury-related discharges in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases. The HCUP databases are developed through a Federal-State-Industry partnership sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Injuries are identified by Healthy People 2020 as one of the 10 high-priority public health issues in the United States. Injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44, and a leading cause of disability for all ages, regardless of sex, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. 1 Data on injuries are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and programs, as well as to determine the need for new prevention programs. Hospital discharge data from inpatient and outpatient settings, such as emergency rooms, can be used to identify significant injuries that are priority targets for prevention. E codes are an essential component of injury surveillance efforts because they describe the cause of injury. Injury-related discharges were identified in the HCUP databases using International Classification of Diseases, 9 th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The percentage of injuries with injury-related E codes was determined for each of the following HCUP databases: The State Inpatient Databases (SID) contain inpatient discharge data from a census of hospitals in the State. States participating in HCUP are listed in Appendix 1. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) is a nationally stratified, weighted sample of over 1,000 hospitals with all of their inpatient discharges. The HCUP State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) contain data from hospitalaffiliated emergency departments (EDs) for visits that do not result in hospitalizations (i.e., patients are treated, stabilized, and released). The HCUP Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) is a nationally stratified, weighted sample of hospital-based EDs with information on ED visits that do not result in an admission and ED visits that result in an admission to the same hospital. This report provides information on the HCUP databases between 2001 and 2011. The information for the 2001 HCUP databases is from the HCUP Method Series #2004-06 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) E Code Evaluation. This earlier report evaluated E code completeness for both injuries and medical misadventures. It also compared to E coding in similar administrative databases in 2001, such as the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). The variation in E coding in 2001 across the HCUP States was examined in relation to State-specific policies, procedures, and edit checks. 1 Injury and Violence Prevention Overview, Healthy People 2020, http://healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=24 (Accessed 2/20/2013) HCUP (02/17/2014) 1 Evaluation of E Codes
METHODS We defined injury records using only the first-listed diagnosis (DX1). On inpatient data, the firstlisted diagnosis code reflects the condition established to be chiefly responsible for a patients admission to the hospital and thus is considered the principal diagnosis code. However, on ED treat-and-release data, the first-listed diagnosis is the reason for visit. Records with injuries are identified by ICD-9-CM diagnoses and E codes using the scheme recommended by the Safe States Alliance [formerly State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA)]. The following tables define the range of injury diagnoses and E codes. ICD-9-CM Codes Used to Identify Injury Records ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Description Codes 800-909.2, 909.4, 909.9 Fractures; dislocations; sprains and strains; intracranial injury; internal injury of thorax, abdomen, and pelvis; open wound of the head, neck, trunk, upper limb, and lower limb; injury to blood vessels; late effects of injury, poisoning, toxic effects, and other external causes, excluding those of complications of surgical and medical care and drugs, medicinal or biological substances. 910-994.9 Superficial injury; contusion; crushing injury; effects of foreign body entering through orifice; burns; injury to nerves and spinal cord; traumatic complications and unspecified injuries; poisoning and toxic effects of substances; other and unspecified effects of external causes. 995.5-995.59 Child maltreatment syndrome. 995.80-995.85 Adult maltreatment, unspecified; adult physical abuse; adult emotional/ psychological abuse; adult sexual abuse; adult neglect (nutritional); other adult abuse and neglect. E Codes Used to Identify Injury-Related Events First character = "E" and NOT ONE of the following: E849.0-E849.9 (place of occurrence) E967.0-E967.9 (child and battering/maltreatment; perpetrator codes) E869.4 (accidental poisoning by second-hand tobacco smoke) E870-E879 (misadventures during surgical and medical care & surgical and medical procedures as the cause of abnormal reaction or later complication, without mention of misadventure at time of procedure) E930-E949 (drugs, medicinal, and biological substances causes adverse effects in therapeutic use). Prior to data year 2003, E codes that were reported separately from the secondary diagnoses were placed at the end of the HCUP diagnosis array during the creation of the HCUP databases. Beginning in data year 2003, E codes were retained in a separate array from the diagnoses. HCUP (02/17/2014) 2 Evaluation of E Codes
The percentage of injury discharges with an injury E code is defined as: # of records with an injury diagnosis that have an injury-related E code x 100 # of records with an injury diagnosis Using the NIS and NEDS, we further determined the percentage of injury records that reported only nonspecific injury E codes. Nonspecific injury E codes were grouped into the following three mutually exclusive categories. Nonspecific Injury E Codes Fracture, cause unspecified Unspecified (combined) Unintentional Suicide Homicide Undetermined Legal, terrorism Other specified, NEC (combined) Unintentional Suicide Homicide Undetermined Legal, terrorism E887 E9289, E9299 E9589 E9689 E9889 E976, E9979 E9288, E9298 E9588, E959 E9688, E969, E9991 E9888, E989 E977, E995, E9978, E998, E9990 HCUP (02/17/2014) 3 Evaluation of E Codes
RESULTS In 2011, there were 1.9 million inpatient discharges for injury in the U.S. This accounts for 4.8 percent of the 38.6 million inpatient discharges in the year. In 2011, there were 27.0 million ED visits for injury in the U.S. This accounts for 20.6 percent of the 131 million ED visits in the year. Table 1 lists the percentage of inpatient injury discharges with an injury E code reported for the total U.S. and for States participating in HCUP. Table 1. Percentage of Inpatient Injury Discharges with an Injury E Code Data Year Geographic Area 2011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2001 Total U.S. 92.0% 90.9% 92.3% 91.7% 86.2% 85.7% AK 90.6% 95.5% NA NA NA NA AR 98.4% 98.5% 98.3% 98.0% 96.6% NA AZ 99.2% 99.1% 98.8% 84.9% 81.8% 78.9% CA 92.3% 92.8% 92.9% 93.0% 93.4% 94.3% CO 95.7% 96.2% 98.9% 98.9% 98.5% 99.1% CT 99.5% 99.4% 99.5% 99.4% 99.4% 99.4% FL 97.8% 97.7% 97.9% 98.0% 94.3% 80.1% GA 94.9% 95.5% 93.6% 95.4% 94.2% 94.0% HI 87.2% 88.1% 90.8% 91.7% 91.7% 53.6% IA 88.7% 87.2% 87.6% 86.7% 80.5% 80.7% IL 92.5% 86.8% 85.2% 84.0% 53.0% 56.0% IN 70.5% 66.7% 70.7% 67.6% 68.7% NA KS 93.7% 93.2% 93.0% 92.7% 86.9% 60.0% KY 81.4% 83.7% 85.9% 84.4% 77.8% 74.3% LA 79.7% 79.1% 82.5% 85.0% NA NA MA 98.1% 98.3% 98.3% 98.3% 98.5% 98.6% MD 96.3% 96.0% 96.0% 96.1% 95.7% 95.2% ME 96.7% 96.5% 94.9% 93.4% 92.8% 86.9% MI 82.8% 83.3% 82.6% 82.3% 82.2% 85.3% MN 93.3% 92.5% 89.1% 89.0% 84.1% 85.1% MO 97.4% 97.9% 97.8% 98.1% 98.6% 98.3% MS 51.1% 58.1% NA NA NA NA MT 88.3% 88.6% 88.4% NA NA NA NC 97.1% 95.5% 95.4% 94.8% 94.3% 95.5% ND 76.1% NA NA NA NA NA NE 94.2% 93.8% 94.7% 95.0% 94.8% 95.7% NH NA NA 98.3% 98.7% 98.9% NJ 95.6% 95.7% 95.3% 96.2% 96.8% 98.9% NM 95.2% 94.0% 89.0% NA NA NA NV 86.2% 73.8% 93.9% 92.8% 77.9% NA HCUP (02/17/2014) 4 Evaluation of E Codes
Data Year Geographic Area 2011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2001 NY 99.2% 99.2% 99.0% 98.9% 98.9% 98.8% OH 62.5% 62.8% 65.0% 65.0% 67.9% NA OK 92.6% 76.2% 91.3% 93.1% 61.3% NA OR 93.2% 91.9% 89.1% 89.0% 86.7% 87.9% PA 98.9% 97.4% 97.3% 97.3% NA 96.1% RI 95.8% 97.0% 97.3% 97.2% 98.2% 92.8% SC 98.7% 98.6% 97.6% 96.9% 86.7% 97.1% SD 73.7% 72.2% 69.3% 67.2% 65.2% NA TN 96.8% 96.8% 96.4% 96.2% 91.8% 94.1% TX 87.2% 87.0% 86.3% 85.3% 81.7% 70.2% UT 91.0% 90.4% 90.4% 90.7% 91.5% 90.7% VA 94.5% 93.9% 95.8% 85.9% 79.0% 77.5% VT 98.2% 96.4% 96.9% 99.3% 98.9% 98.2% WA 95.4% 94.5% 95.9% 93.5% 93.7% 97.3% WI 99.7% 99.6% 99.5% 99.4% 99.3% 98.5% WV 78.6% 71.1% 70.2% 68.0% 53.6% 52.6% WY 76.2% 76.5% 77.9% 79.4% NA NA Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases. Estimates for the total U.S. are from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. State estimates are from the State Inpatient Databases (SID), and not all States participate in HCUP. Table 2 lists the number of injuries treated in the U.S. during an inpatient stay and enumerates the percentage of these injuries with nonspecific injury E codes. Table 2. Number of Inpatient Injury Discharges in the United States Reported with Nonspecific E Codes Total number of inpatient injury discharges in the U.S. Percentage of injury records with an injury E code Fracture, cause unspecified Other specified, NEC (combined) Percentage of injury records without an injury E code Unspecified All Data Year Total (combined) Other 2006 1,872,121 86.2% 0.7% 2.2% 0.8% 82.5% 13.8% 2009 1,865,426 92.3% 0.7% 2.2% 1.0% 88.4% 7.7% 2010 2,045,341 90.9% 0.7% 2.2% 1.0% 87.1% 9.1% 2011 1,850,662 92.0% 0.7% 2.2% 1.0% 88.0% 8.0% Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Nationwide Inpatient Sample. HCUP (02/17/2014) 5 Evaluation of E Codes
Table 3 lists the percentage of ED visits for injury with an injury E code reported for the total U.S. and for States participating in HCUP. Table 3. Percentage of ED Visits for Injury with an Injury E Code Geographic Area Data Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2001 Total U.S. 94.0% 94.1% 93.2% 93.0% 92.2% NA AZ 99.2% 99.3% 99.2% 96.8% 98.4% NA CA 97.5% 97.3% 95.3% 92.5% 92.9% NA CT 99.8% 99.7% 99.7% 99.4% 99.9% 99.4% FL 97.8% 97.9% 97.8% 97.0% 93.2% NA GA 96.2% 96.0% 93.6% 96.2% 97.2% NA HI NA 95.5% 91.8% 91.2% 97.5% NA IA 91.7% 91.3% 90.6% 89.2% 90.3% NA IL 91.4% 86.8% 85.5% NA NA NA IN 71.2% 68.2% 69.7% 71.0% 74.5% NA KS 94.3% 93.2% 90.6% 86.8% 85.9% NA KY 84.8% 83.1% 82.8% 79.3% NA NA MA 99.3% 99.5% 99.5% 98.7% 99.9% NA MD 96.8% 97.1% 97.2% 96.6% 97.1% 94.9% ME 96.3% NA 91.0% 87.5% NA 80.1% MN 81.4% 80.5% 80.7% 71.5% 79.5% 71.9% MO 99.4% 99.5% 99.5% 99.2% 99.7% 98.2% NC 99.1% 98.7% 98.6% 97.5% NA NA ND 84.9% NA NA NA NA NA NE 98.1% 98.1% 98.0% 98.5% 99.4% 97.7% NH NA NA 94.3% 92.4% 95.0% NA NJ 83.2% 84.7% 85.0% 85.0% 83.0% NA NV 93.6% 94.2% NA NA NA NA NY 99.7% 99.7% 99.6% 99.6% 100.0% NA OH 70.7% 70.2% 71.5% 69.3% 68.6% NA RI 97.8% 97.9% 98.4% 98.0% NA NA SC 99.5% 99.5% 98.5% 95.9% 98.1% 97.6% SD 90.9% 90.6% 91.9% 89.4% 87.9% NA TN 96.5% 96.7% 96.8% 95.3% 96.9% 97.3% UT 95.5% 95.5% 95.5% 91.6% 97.3% 95.7% VT 98.4% 92.7% 95.0% 98.2% 98.9% NA WI 99.8% 99.7% 99.4% 99.4% 100.0% NA Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases. Estimates for the total U.S. are from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). State estimates are from the State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD), and not all States participate in HCUP. The SEDD includes only those ED visits that do not result in admission to the same hospital. HCUP (02/17/2014) 6 Evaluation of E Codes
Table 4 lists the number of injuries treated in the emergency room in the U.S. and enumerates the percentage of these injuries with nonspecific injury E codes. Table 4. Number of ED Visits for Injury in the United States Reported with Nonspecific E Codes Total number of ED visits of injury in the U.S. Percentage of injury records with an injury E code Fracture, cause unspecified Other specified, NEC (combined) Percentage of injury records without an injury E code Unspecified All Data Year Total (combined) Other 2009 26,764,923 93.2% 0.2% 5.3% 2.3% 85.4% 6.8% 2010 27,230,927 94.1% 0.2% 6.0% 2.4% 85.5% 5.9% 2011 27,030,374 94.0% 0.2% 5.9% 2.7% 85.2% 6.0% Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. HCUP (02/17/2014) 7 Evaluation of E Codes
APPENDIX 1. HCUP PARTNERS Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association Arizona Department of Health Services Arkansas Department of Health California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development Colorado Hospital Association Connecticut Hospital Association Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Georgia Hospital Association Hawaii Health Information Corporation Illinois Department of Public Health Indiana Hospital Association Iowa Hospital Association Kansas Hospital Association Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Maine Health Data Organization Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis Michigan Health & Hospital Association Minnesota Hospital Association (provides data for Minnesota and North Dakota hospitals) Mississippi Department of Health Missouri Hospital Industry Data Institute Montana MHA - An Association of Montana Health Care Providers Nebraska Hospital Association Nevada Department of Health and Human Services New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services New Jersey Department of Health New Mexico Department of Health New York State Department of Health North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services North Dakota (data provided by the Minnesota Hospital Association) Ohio Hospital Association Oklahoma State Department of Health Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems Oregon Health Policy and Research Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council Rhode Island Department of Health South Carolina Budget & Control Board South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations Tennessee Hospital Association (Texas) Department of State Health Services Utah Department of Health Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems Virginia Health Information Washington State Department of Health West Virginia Health Care Authority Wisconsin Department of Health Services Wyoming Hospital Association HCUP (02/17/2014) 8 Evaluation of E Codes